Fred Charles Dunaway

Fred Charles Dunaway, of Biloxi, Mississippi, passed away on Monday, August 24, 2026 at the age of 90.

Fred was born a twin on January 27, 1936, in Lamison, Alabama, and grew up in Daphne, Alabama. From an early age, Fred showed the qualities that would define his life: leadership, service, courage, and an abiding sense of duty. At Fairhope High School, he served as senior class president, received an athletic award, and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

He attended the University of Alabama and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in 1961. He completed flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, in March 1962, beginning an Army aviation career that would take him around the world and place him at the center of some remarkable moments in American history.

In 1958 Fred married Caroline Frances Houston of Shady Grove, Mississippi, and together they shared 66 years of marriage, building a life and family that endured through military deployments, moves around the world, a second career, and eventually retirement on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Early in his military career, Fred, Caroline and their daughter were stationed in Nuremberg, Germany, where Fred served with the 504th Aviation Battalion. In 1963, he participated in NATO’s “Cold Winter” exercise as liaison officer to Norwegian air and ground forces in Bardufoss, Norway, 160 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

That same year, Fred was selected as a recovery and rescue pilot on a joint U.S. Army-Air Force emergency rescue team supporting NASA’s Project Mercury. From May 13–18, 1963, he was positioned in Tripoli, North Africa, as astronaut Gordon Cooper circled the Earth 22 times aboard Mercury-Atlas 9, Faith 7, the final crewed mission of the Mercury program.

Fred went on to serve two combat tours in Vietnam, from 1967–68 and again from 1970–71.

During his second tour, he commanded the 135th Assault Helicopter Company, known as the Experimental Military Unit, or EMU. The 135th was extraordinary in that approximately one-third of its personnel were members of the Royal Australian Navy serving alongside U.S. Army aviators and soldiers.

For many years Fred worked to correct an inequity that he cared deeply about. In 2004, Fred and family traveled to Nowra, Australia on ANZAC Day to present the Australian soldiers from the 135th, the same medals that the US soldiers had received decades earlier. It was one of his proudest moments.

Nearly half a century later, the service and bravery of the unit’s Australian contingent received an extraordinary recognition. In 2019, the Australian government awarded the unit the Unit Citation for Gallantry, Australia’s highest honor for collective gallantry in action, recognizing its service with the 135th in Vietnam from 1967 to 1971.

Fred’s military service also took him to Iran, and his later assignments included command of a battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He continued his military education at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and earned a master’s degree in business management from Webster University in St. Louis.

He retired from the United States Army in November 1980 after nearly two decades of service in Army Aviation.

His decorations and honors reflected an extraordinary career. They included the Distinguished Flying Cross; Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters; Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster; 18 Air Medals; Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster; Meritorious Unit Citation; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon; U.S. Army Senior Aviator Wings; Royal Australian Navy Aviation Wings; and Imperial Iranian Army Senior Aviation Wings.

Retirement from the Army did not mean retirement from aviation or leadership. Fred joined ONEOK Drilling Company as a contract manager and corporate pilot and later served as an operations manager with ONEOK, Inc. He retired from ONEOK in 2005.

Fred also remained deeply committed to the community of men and women who had served their country. He served as president of the Mississippi Coast Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America and as president of the Mississippi Council of Chapters of MOAA.

He is survived by his daughter, Fran Dunaway, and her wife, Naomi Gonzalez; his son, Hunter Dunaway; his twin brother, Frank Dunaway; and numerous nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.

For all the titles he held, aircraft he flew, places he traveled, commands he led, and medals he earned, Fred’s life was larger than the record of his accomplishments. It was a life built around service—to his country, to the people he led, to his community, and, above all, to his family.

But those who knew Fred knew another side of him, too. He was gentle, funny, kind, thoughtful, and deeply romantic. He loved adventure and never lost his sense of play. He was a magician who delighted in surprising people, a man who remained curious about the world, and someone who could always find a reason to have a little fun.

He was a soldier and aviator who flew in support of America’s first human spaceflight program, served his country through two tours in Vietnam, helped lead a unique partnership between American and Australian forces in combat, and continued serving others long after he hung up his uniform.

But the longest and most important chapter of Fred’s life was the one he shared with Caroline: 66 years of marriage, family, adventure, perseverance, and life together.

Now, their story is together again.

Funeral service will be held on Friday, September 11, 2026 at Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home, Howard Avenue in Biloxi at 12:00 p.m. Friends may visit one hour prior. A graveside service will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Biloxi National Cemetery.

Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Fred Charles Dunaway.